How did Massachusetts Towns Vote?

Below are two color-enhanced maps that illustrate how various towns in Massachusetts and the District of Maine voted on the ratification of the Constitution. (Until 1820, when it gained independence as the 23rd state, Massachusetts included the "District of Maine.") Please click on the two small images below to see a full-size view of each enhanced map.

Overall, in voting to ratify the Constitution the two areas voted in favor by a margin of 187-168.

The first map, left, shows how the state of Massachusetts voted. Green indicates the town voted to accept the constitution; red represents a vote of No; and purple means the town did not vote. In total, 109 towns voted for, 121 against, and 5 did not vote.  (The towns that are not underlined--for example Chatham, Berkley, Tyngsboro, Middleton, and Dalton--did not send delegates to the meetings about ratification.)    See the online color-coded map of Massachusetts. An online presentation of the original map of Massachusetts in 1796 (without the color-coded lines) is also available. The source for the original map of Massachusetts was plate 6 in The American Atlas (New York: John Reid, 1796). The source for the color coding was the endpaper and front free endpaper of The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, edited by Merrill Jensen (Madison, Wisc.: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1976).

The second map, right, shows how a portion of the District of Maine voted. Again, green indicates the town voted to accept the constitution; red represents a vote of No; and purple means the town did not vote.  Towns that are not underlined did not send delegates to the discussions.  In total on the map displayed, 19 towns voted for, 16 against, and 2 did not vote. Please note that all the towns involved with the ratification debate appear on the lower left portion of the full map, and the enhanced map represents one section of the full map. See the the online color-coded map of the District of Maine.

The original map of the District of Maine, was made by Osgood Carlton.   Please see the online presentation of the full original map without enhancements.